19th-Century Men Were Just As Bad at Flirting As Dudes Today

You might think that today’s DM-sliding fuckboys are history’s worst flirts, but that’s because you’ve never been hit on by a Victorian man drunk on his own cleverness.

History buff Alan Mays has been collecting 19th-century “acquaintance cards” for years and publishing them to Flickr. The cards, popular in the late 1800s, were emblazoned with notes meant to spark conversation with or express interest in women. Imagine if you got your Tinder bio printed on business cards and then started giving them to random strangers. That was how they flirted in the 1880s.

No, U may not.
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mays

Redditors everywhere, print this out for future use.
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mays

Wow, so brave.
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mays

I feeeeeel like you’re lying about the millionaire thing.
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mays

I see what you did there (but barely, because it’s so dim in here).
Photo: Courtesy of Alan Mays